David Coleman (Banks, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Time is short so in the two minutes I have let us get to the heart of what is happening in health policy. Point one is that Labor trashed the budget. They messed it up completely. There were $50 billion when they came in and there were $200 million more of net debt when they left. It is rising all the time and we are paying $35 million in interest every day. That is unsustainable and we will not continue to let that occur. Secondly, a sensible government has to do is take steps to address that very significant debt situation. That is what we are doing across the board through a range of sensible initiatives to rein in the rampant debt that we face.

Importantly, when we act in a sensible and deliberative fashion in budgetary matters, we are able to invest significantly in health care. In financial year 2013-14, the Commonwealth spent $64 billion on various areas of health policy. Under the budget in 2017-18, so four years later, that total expenditure will be almost $79 billion rising—not going down—from $64 billion-$79 billion, which is an annual growth rate of about five per cent. So it is going up by an average growth rate of about five per cent; it is not going down. It is going up by a sensible and prudent amount in the context of a sensible and prudent budget strategy. Those are the facts of health policy. The amendment we are disgusting tonight and no doubt in the future is a part of various important initiatives that we are taking to address health policy.

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